Roughly two-thirds of the Russian troops that had been amassed around Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv have since left, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters on Monday, adding that the troops will likely be redeployed to another part of the country.
The latest moves by Russian forces come 5 1/2 weeks after their invasion of Ukraine began. Russia has been unable to accomplish its main goal of conquering Kyiv due to a confluence of factors, including a stronger-than-expected Ukrainian resistance and a litany of self-inflicted problems.
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“We have seen continued repositioning of Russian forces from Kyiv and frankly from Kharkiv as well,” the official said. “We assess that they are largely consolidating themselves in Belarus prior to some level of redeployment back into Ukraine.”
PENTAGON: ‘SMALL NUMBERS’ OF RUSSIAN TROOPS LEAVING KYIV, ‘NOT A REAL WITHDRAWAL’
“[What] we continue to believe is that they’re going to be refitted, resupplied, perhaps maybe even reinforced with additional manpower, and then sent back into Ukraine to continue fighting elsewhere,” the official continued. “Our best assessment, and it is only an assessment, is that they will be applied in the eastern part of the country in the Donbas region, but that is an assessment only. We haven’t seen them begin to move.”
The Pentagon noted last week that Russian troops appeared to be turning their attention to the Donbas region, in the southeastern part of the country, and away from the capital, Kyiv. The official said on Friday that 20% of the troops that had been near Kyiv had retreated.
Over the weekend, Russian forces’ alleged actions in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, prompted new declarations that war crimes have been committed.
In Bucha, hundreds of civilians were found buried in a mass grave on Saturday, according to Ukrainian officials, while the town’s mayor said 300 residents were killed by Russian troops. Russia has denied that its troops killed civilians in Bucha, accusing Ukraine and Western media outlets of staging scenes of civilian deaths. Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Iryna Venedyktova said on Sunday that the bodies of 410 civilians have been found so far.
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President Joe Biden said he supports a war crime trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, explaining, “We have to gather all the details so this can be an actual … war crime trial. This guy is brutal. What’s happening in Bucha is outrageous, and everyone’s seen it.”
The defense official said the Pentagon couldn’t independently verify the claims but added that they have “no reason whatsoever to refute the Ukrainians’ claims about these atrocities.”
